Order to cull Himachal Pradesh’s ‘vermin’ monkeys draws activists’ ire

NEW DELHI: Union environment ministry has declared monkeys (Rhesus Macaque) as ‘vermin’ in Himachal Pradesh, allowing local authorities to cull this animal in certain identified non-forest areas in Shimla for one year. The move has, however, attracted the ire of animal rights activists.
The decision, notified last week, was taken on request of the state government which reported harm to life and property including large-scale destruction of agriculture due to overpopulation of this species outside forests.
Though Rhesus Macaque monkeys are protected species under Schedule II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the law allows for it to be hunted by declaring it ‘vermin’ for a specific period if it poses a danger to human life or property.
“The declaration of macaques as vermin is a fraud played by the central and state governments to cancel utter mismanagement of forests and wildlife. Himachal Pradesh forest department’s website clearly shows a marked decline in the number of monkeys in the state, yet the Centre declares it as vermin due to overpopulation,” said animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi.
Citing previous instances, she said, “The monkeys mistakenly sterilised by the government has cost the tax payer Rs 50 crore. The mass surgical sterilisation of wild animals backfired. Now a notification for killing them will only compound the blunder.”
Many wildlife conservationists believe that a species coming into conflict with humans is a clear symptom of forest mismanagement and forest department must be held accountable for human-wildlife conflict situation anywhere in the country.
Justifying its decision, the ministry in a notification, issued on July 11, said, “The central government has considered it necessary to balance local population of this species to mitigate the damage to human life, crops and other properties of the state for ensuring conservation of wildlife in forests.”
This is, however, not the first time the ministry has taken such a decision. It had declared wild pig as ‘vermin’ in Uttarakhand in November last year, allowing authorities to carry out extermination of wild pigs on a large scale in certain identified areas (tehsils) of 13 districts in the state for one year without attracting penal provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.